The present invention relates to an enclosure for cooking a pot pie or similar food item in a microwave oven, and more particularly, to such an enclosure having microwave reflective shields and susceptors for cooking and browning pot pies to a desired degree on a consistent basis from oven to oven.
Specially designed packages or cartons for cooking, browning and/or crisping foods in microwave ovens have been used for quite some time. Often, these packages utilize susceptors, or microwave interactive materials which convert microwave energy to heat, to achieve proper or sufficient cooking of the foods contained in the packages. By way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,267,420 to Brastad and U.S. Pat. No. 4,641,005 to Seiferth describe the use of various metallized polyester films or susceptors in connection with cooking foods in microwave ovens.
The use of reflective or electrically conductive materials which selectively transmit, absorb and/or reflect microwave energy have also been used in microwave packaging to affect their cooking performance. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 4,567,341 to Brown describes a vented, microwave pizza carton having a reflective material for shielding portions of the pizza from microwave energy to prevent overcooking.
Nonetheless, many problems, such as non-uniform cooking or browning, and overheating or underheating are still experienced in cooking various foods in microwave ovens. Although the use of reflective materials and susceptors have eliminated some of these problems, the design of a package to cook, brown, or crisp particular foods remains a challenge to the microwave package designer. Indeed, with respect to pot pies in particular, there has not been a suitable package which provides the desired and uniform level of microwave cooking and browning on a consistent basis, especially given the differences in cooking characteristics from oven to oven. As a result, most of the microwavable pot pies currently on the market require that the pot pie be removed from the package before cooking it in the microwave. Thus, the control of microwave energy to which the pot pie is exposed is mostly limited to the time and level of power at which the pot pie is cooked.
Accordingly, it will be understood that there is a need for an improved and reliable enclosure for cooking a pot pie, or similar food article, in a microwave oven, such that the pot pie is cooked and browned to a desired and uniform degree on a controlled and consistent basis from oven to oven. In particular, there is a need for a microwave cooking enclosure for a pot pie which controls the exposure of microwave energy to the pot pie such that it cooks and browns in a manner associated with conventional ovens.